Broiled Steaks

I haven’t eaten plain steak in 2-1/2 years, so today I went back to the same broiling technique I saw on Cook’s Country a few seasons ago. Of course, with plain steak the end result depends entirely upon the quality of the beef. I found some nicely-marbled, semi-boneless shell steaks and was rewarded with 4-1/2 stars. Next time I want to try their dry-aging technique. which wraps the meat in cheese cloth for 4-days in your refrigerator.

Plain steak with compound butter

The recipe has two secrets. (1) Add 2 cups of salt to the bottom of a disposable aluminum pan; the 40-cents of salt will completely stop any smoke from filling your kitchen. (2) Before you pre-heat your oven, put a wire rack on top of the disposable pan and arrange your steaks on top of the wire rack. Use a ruler to measure the height from the counter to the top of the steaks, mine measured 3-1/2″. Then set an oven rack so that the top of the steaks will be 1-1/2″ from the broiler element. In my case the closest I could get was 2-1/2″, which added 5 minutes to the broiling time (see comments below if your like your steak medium-rare).

Comments:

If you like your steaks either rare or medium-rare, then you must measure out the distance to your broiler element very carefully. If your measurements mean that the tops of the steaks will be more than 1-1/2″ from the broiler element, then you must reduce that distance. For example, buy a taller disposable aluminum pan or set on an overturned rimmed backing sheet.

If you like your steaks medium and the tops of the steaks will be more than 1-1/2″ from the broiler element, then bake for no more than 5 minutes in step 5.

Remove 1/2 cube of butter from refrigerator and allow to soften on counter-top for an hour; or microwave for 20 to 30 seconds.

Trim away any excess fat. Pat both sides of your steaks dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Add 2 cups of salt to the bottom of a disposable aluminum pan. Then put a wire rack on top of the aluminum pan and arrange your steaks on top of the wire rack. Use a ruler to measure the height from the counter to the top of the steaks, about 4″. Set an oven rack about 5-1/2″ from the broiler element; i.e. so that the top of the steaks will be 1-1/2″ away.